Protecting structure for ships.



U. PUGLTESE. PROTECTING STRUCTURE FOR SHIPS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 5,1917.

Patented Apr. 1, 1919.

UMBERTO PUGLIESE, or noun, ITALY.

PROTECTING STRUCTURE FOR SHIPS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 1, 1919.

Application filed July 5, 1917. Serial No. 178,780.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, UMBERTO PUGLIESE, a subject of the King of Italy, residing at Rome, Italy, have invented new and useful Improvements in Protecting Structures for Ships, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for protecting the hulls of ships and vessels from being damaged by the impact or explosion of torpedoes or submarine mines of the kind in which chambers or tanks are provided alon each side of the hull, such chambers serving to absorb the energy of the explosion.

According to this invention, the protec ti device comprises the provision at each side of the ship of one or more shells or tanks inclosed within a single surrounding shell or tank. By such an arrangement when an explosion occurs it is the inner tank or tanks that principally absorb the energy of the explosion gases by partly or wholly collapsing while the outer surround' ing shell may be ruptured only locally.

he invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example one embodiment of the invention and in which,

Figure 1 is a cross vertical sectional view of the protecting structure or tank.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view, on the line AA of Fig. l, of a portion of the said structure.

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section of a ship specially constructed in view of the adaptation thereto of the protecting device forming the object of the present invention; and

Fig. 4: shows one of the ways for transforming the ship to the normal and usual construction, when the necessity for the protecting device ceases.

The ship constructed according to the present invention must be built in cross section as shown in Fig. 3, that is, with inwardly extending curved sides a, forming, in its central part below the water line, the recesses e, in which recesses the structure or tank illustrated in sectional views in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, is fitted and firmly supported in a convenientmanner,ateach sideoftheship. Suchtank is formed by an external structure b,circular or of other form in cross section, which constitutes a longitudinal tank having in its interior a chamber or chambers c. The space between the external structure and said internal chamber or chambers is filled up with any l1qu1d substance such as salt water, oil

'or the like, while the internal chamber or chambers will: be left vacant or filled up with an extremely compressible substance having a very low density such as cork and the like.

Obviously, the protecting structure will be conveniently made with strengthening frames and longitudinally divided into sectlons by means of water proof partitions, in the well known manner.

The construction of the ship for employment with the above described system of protecting tanks according to the resent invention can be constituted as ollows (Fig.

( 1) By a simple or double bottom d;

I (2) By the side walls ,which may be strengthened on the outside by an additional layer of iron sheeting and inside by convenient cellular structures;

(3) By a series of strong transverse duly reinforced beams and partitions;

(4) By a closing wall of iron sheeting following the same curvature as the protectiilng tanks which may, if necessary, be use The upper part of the ship structure will be completed by a bulwark with the decks and the superstructure according to the kind of cargo which the ship is to carry, and completed fore and aft by structures imparting to the ship the usual contour lines, these fore and aft parts being reduced to the least possible size and elther partly protected or filled with a material of small density or with cargo.

Should an explosion take place on the under water side of a ship protected as above specified, the exposed part of the surrounding tank may be deformed or broken, while the internal part immediately next to the ships hold will be protected from damage but the main damage will be concentrated. upon the inner tank or tanks 0 which will more or less collapse. The flooding of water will therefore be reduced to a limited space in the internal device corresponding to the initially empty space, the ships hold remaining consequently fully safeguarded.

Fig. 3 represents an example of the midship structure of a cargo boat for which the water line at full cargo is made to coincide with a plane tangent to the upper surface of the outer protecting tanks. The inner and outer tanks are represented in the drawing as being perfectly cylindrical and circular in their cross section, but they may be made of any other convenient form.

The construction of a ship madeaccording to the present invention will have the following characteristics.

(l) .A guarantee against underwater lateral explosions, the weight of the protecting structures or tanks being confined within moderate limits;

(2) The dead weight capacity is only lightly, andin some cases, not at all reduced;

(3) An increase of cargo space in the ships hold in comparison with other types of protection, as the protectin tanks may be utilized, on a large scale, for shipping goods or liquid fuel;

(4) As the flooding in case of an explo sion is reduced to a minimum, the trimming ofthe ship will not be substantially interferedwith.

(5) The simplicity of said protecting structures or tanks and consequently of their design and construction aswell as of their setting up and the easy distribution of the joints of the iron plating afford'to the build-- ing up of the said protection system a characteristic of rapidity and economy; (6) once the reasons which render the underwater protection necessary cease, said protecting structures or tanks may eventually be removed and the ship easily transformed into an almost normal type and form of vessel (7 When said transformation has been effected "the protectin structures or tanks may be easily utilized for other obvious purposes, so that practically no loss of material takes place.

The protecting structures which form the principal object of the invention may be applied to some types of already built cargoboats by means of convenient internal adaptations of the structures of the ship hold in order to fix the said protecting tanks in position. a r

I claim 1. Means for the protection of vessels, comprising a fluid holding shell extending alongside the hull, and compressible shock absorbing means of low density contained within said shell.

2. Means for the protection of vessels whose hulls are provided with an exteriorly lengthwise extending recess, said means comprising a fluid holding shell seated in said recess, and compressible shock absorbing 60 means of low density contained within said shell. 1

3'. In protecting means for vessels, the combination, with a ships hull, having exterior recesses, extending lengthwise, at opposite sides thereof, of a fluid containing cylindrical shellseated in each recess, and compressible shock absorbing means of low density, also contained Within said shells.

4. In protecting means for vessels, the combination, with a ships hull, having concave recesses extending'lengthwise exteriorly thereof, of a fluid containing outer cylindrical' shell seated in 'each recess, and an inner shell inclosed by each outer shell, in spaced relation therewith, the inner'shell containing compressible shock absorbing material, and being more susceptible to rupture than the outer shell.

'In testimony whereof I have signed my 80 name to this specification in the presence of I 7 Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

' Washington, D. O. 

